What Is “We”?

“All articulations of collectivity – whether pedagogical or performative – are provisional, conditional, unstable, fabricated.” Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan

This conversation between English scholar Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan and philosopher Chiara Ricciardone will consider the question at the heart of all this week’s events: what is “we”?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “we” is “the subjective case of the first person plural pronoun.” It is a pronoun “used indefinitely in general statements in which the speaker or writer includes those addressed, i.e. his or her contemporaries, compatriots, fellow human beings, etc.” “We” is an epistemology. “We” is an assumption of shared subjectivity, perspective, or experience. “We” is an invitation to affiliate. “We” is a promise and a threat. “We” is a tantalizing hallucination we cannot help but desire. “We” is what we write toward. Equally, “we” is what we must never reach.











When: Mon., Nov. 9, 2020 at 2:00 pm

“All articulations of collectivity – whether pedagogical or performative – are provisional, conditional, unstable, fabricated.” Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan

This conversation between English scholar Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan and philosopher Chiara Ricciardone will consider the question at the heart of all this week’s events: what is “we”?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “we” is “the subjective case of the first person plural pronoun.” It is a pronoun “used indefinitely in general statements in which the speaker or writer includes those addressed, i.e. his or her contemporaries, compatriots, fellow human beings, etc.” “We” is an epistemology. “We” is an assumption of shared subjectivity, perspective, or experience. “We” is an invitation to affiliate. “We” is a promise and a threat. “We” is a tantalizing hallucination we cannot help but desire. “We” is what we write toward. Equally, “we” is what we must never reach.

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